OCR Media Studies – AS Level

Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

Preliminary Task, Log Book and Evaluation

Name: Taylor SabgaCandidate Number: 6485Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic CollegeCenter Number: 64770

Set Brief - Print

Music Magazine – Production

Preliminary Task Progression, Log Book

Preliminary Task Screen Grabs – This is a screen grab of my completed preliminary front cover, the most time consuming part of the front cover was when I had to edit the image of Aaron (my main image) using the tools I used to manipulate the image was the quick selection tool, the eraser and I had to rasterize the image.

The font for my masthead was downloaded from ‘Dafont.com’. I felt that the font fit the purpose of the magazine which is a sixth form based magazine. The font is easy to read and the masthead is visible from a distance which is what I liked about the font as it is easy to read.

The strapline is very simple but yet can help make my magazine stand out to other sixth form magazines as people can see that the verbal code‘best’ has been used.

I rotated the barcode which helped fill the dead space which was there when the barcode was horizontal but now that it is vertical it fills the dead space and allowed me to insert social media logos (Facebook and Twitter).

This is my final version of my preliminary contents page, the most time consuming part of the page was when I had to decide on what layout I was going to do for the page, I decided to use boxes to help fill the ‘dead space’ on the page.

Another time consuming part of the page was editing the image on the page, this included removing the background from the image, making the image sharper by using the effects on Photoshop which helps make the image look sharper and a higher quality.

I took a screen grab of my preliminary front cover and placed it into my contents page, I used the rotate tool to rotate the page to make it take more space up.

I added images from Google images to put inside the boxes I placed onto the page, the images were used because they are motioned on the page and go well with what has been said.

My puff promotion was also used on the page, I put a box behind it to help make it stand out on the page. I also inserted an iTunes logo as the puff promotion was to win iTunes vouchers.

I chose to use the same colour scheme as my front cover to keep my pages consistent. The colour scheme is the same as my school which my magazine is based on. The colour scheme is also very simple as the only colours used are black, maroon and a light blue. I only used a few colours because if I used to many colours it will become hard to read and my magazines of inspiration also only used 3-4 different colours per page.

This is my contents page half completed, I used the ruler tool to help place my shapes in, I used ruler tool to help make my page look more organized and easier to place text in.

This is my contents page half completed, I used the ruler tool to help place my shapes in, I used ruler tool to help make my page look more organized and easier to place text in.

Log Book

Music Magazine – Genre research (Hip-Hop)Hip-hop originated from the early

1970s. An artist called ‘Grandfather Flash’. The artist helped the genre be recognised by the mainstream audiences by having hits in the 70s that reached the chart one of which called ‘The Message’.

There are a number of Hip-hop magazines available, these include XXL, The Vibe and The Source. My chosen music magazine (XXL) of inspiration includes ‘star’ (Dyer) rappers from the genre that are well known at that period of time.

Hip-hop was extremely popular in the 90s, which can be backed up with Hip-hop magazine sales in that time period, also the amount of cd sales in the hip – hop genre.

Hip-hop is usually stereotyped as being listened to by a predominantly African American (Hartley) audience. However, the genre is now listened to a wide variety of people age ranges and even ethnicities. My statement can be backed up by statistics of Hip-hop magazines which state that it is bought by more males then females and is bought buy 16-25 year olds from many different ethnic backgrounds (Statistics from Wikipedia).This genre is also stereotyped as being male dominated, however the genre is listened to by a large female audience , this is stereotypical as hip–hop magazines appeal to both male and female audiences. Females reading hip-hop magazines can show how the genre has evolved over the years.

Sources: Wikipedia, XXL.com

Target Audience – The target audience for Q magazine can be is stereotyped as being people who enjoy rock music as the front cover is usually dominated by rock bands and words stereotypically used by people into rock music. The readership for Q magazine is 68% male, this proves Hartley’s seven subjectivities theory. It proves his theory that magazines have to be aimed at age, gender, class, ethnicity, self image, nation and family, Q magazine is stereotypically aimed at classes A to C1. Q’s USP(Unique Selling Point) is the amount of genres they cover in the magazine vary a lot. The magazine mainly focuses on the genre rock and indie but has aspects of rap and pop music included in the magazine.

What is the USP of this magazine? From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP for Q’(Unique Selling Point) is the amount of genres they cover in the magazine vary a lot. The magazine mainly focuses on the genre rock and indie but has aspects of rap and pop music included in the magazine. Q magazine also uses gold on the front cover which is a very rich and premium color which may help the customer feel they are getting a premium product/magazine.

Publisher research -The music magazine XXL is published by Harris Publications. The magazine is released 6 times every year, which connotes that the magazine is a special magazine to readers as it is less frequent compared to its competitors vibe and the source as they release a new magazine every month. For my magazine I will use a similar release pattern as it is a very successful

Harris Publications is an American consumer-magazine publisher in New York. It publishes many magazines and genres, they include fitness magazines and financial magazines.

XXL magazine currently has around 210,000 copies in circulation, this is a low number compared to other magazines such as vibe as that currently has 800,000 magazines in circulation (statistics from Wikipedia).

Another USP of XXL, based on this secondary research, is that is does not include just one genre of music, it includes R&B and Hip-hop also Rap. Therefore the audience would find the hybridity of the magazine very appealing.

Conventions of a Music Magazine

The front page of the magazine for ‘XXL’ is extremely simple in layout and very easy to read.

The non-verbal code of the indent for the magazine can be clearly seen as it is at the top of the page in a bright red background. The logo also stands out because the colour scheme of the front page is in black and white. The right hand side of the logo is partially covered by the rapper ‘Drake’s’ head, which is used by other magazines to give the magazine a high quality finish.

The Unique Selling Point of the music magazine ‘XXL’ is that it is one of the longest running hip-hop magazines that people can buy. The magazine also includes extremely famous rappers which include Drake and lil Wayne.

The strap line of ‘XXL’ can be found on the far left hand corner which denotes 'Hip-Hop on a higher level’, this can connote the magazine is a premium hip-hop magazine and better than its competitors.

On the left of the magazine it has the artists that are included in the magazine. On the right hand side of the magazine it has the stories and interviews that are included inside the magazine.

Ideas for magazine -

• The magazine will include exclusive interviews. • The magazine will be called DTB. (Drop The Beat). • As my magazine of inspiration (XXL) has a list of rappers on

the front cover which I should consider.• The magazine colour scheme should only include a maximum

number of 3 different colours.• I should also include a form of promotion as it is my first ever

issue, an example would be a free mix tape of the of a rapper in the magazine before they were famous.

• My magazine should also follow the basic conventions of a hip-hop magazine such as including many well known rappers and exclusive interviews with them.

Ideas for my Magazine name

Brainstorming Ideas

Hip-Hop Latest

Fresh Rappers

Drop Mag

Holla.

Trap Mag

Swag Mag.

The Drop

DTB (Drop The Beat)

Audience Feedback -